Descriptive List of Birds 



they betake themselves to their nests, which 

 are saucer-shaped structures made of straw, 

 feathers, etc., cemented together and to the 

 wall of a building by the birds' saliva. Their 

 wings are very long and slender. As a swift 

 dashes through the air at great speed it is 

 shaped like an anchor with very large flukes. 



130. Cypselus affinis : The Common Indian 

 Swift. F. 1073, J. 100, —I. W. K. 



A very dark brown, almost black, bird with 

 a white bar across the lower back. 



This is the common swift of the West 

 Himalayan hill stations, and of Kashmir. 

 It nests under the eaves of houses. It utters 

 what Jerdon describes as a " shivering scream," 

 which is sometimes heard at night. Most 

 dak bungalows in the W. Himalayas have 

 nests of this swift. A colony nests in the 

 Landour bazaar at Mussoorie. 



A larger bird, sometimes seen in Kashmir 

 and the Himalayas, with no white bar across 

 back and a white abdomen, is Cypselus melba, 

 the Alpine Swift. 



131. Chcetura nudifes : The White-necked 

 Spinetail. F. 1077, J. 97, II. E. W. 



Upper parts blackish-brown, glossed with 

 green. Middle of back and chin white. 

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